HOME DEPOT FOES HEAR TRAFFIC DATA

Opponents of a proposed Home Depot weren't about to let anyone forget how much they don't want the giant home improvement store in town, even after a third hearing Monday night was over.

Fliers slipped in the doors of cars, trucks and vans in the parking lot at town hall served as one last reminder: "Depot Busters: Won't Back Down!"

Inside town hall, more than 100 residents were in the auditorium, a large number of them wearing T- shirts, buttons, painter caps emblazoned with anti-Depot slogans.

The residents were attending a third hearing before the town council on the proposal. It was the first hearing in which residents were allowed to speak. A traffic engineer hired by a group of residents presented an hourlong report.

Late Tuesday, it was clear there would be a fourth meeting and possibly more - ensuring there would be no quick resolution to an issue that has been debated for months.

"At the least, there will be one more hearing," Mayor Sandra F. Klebanoff said during a recess. The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

The developers - H.D. West Hartford Ltd. Partnership, Coltec Industries and the Richard W. Sorenson Children's Trust - want to build the store at Oakwood, Flatbush and New Park avenues.

The project, known as West Hartford Place, would include a 131,000- square-foot Home Depot store, a 116,000-square-foot BJ's Wholesale Club and another 22,000-square- foot store with an as-yet-unnamed tenant.

Tuesday, the president of a residents' group opposing the store and the group's traffic engineer spent nearly two hours targeting the traffic that would be generated by the retail complex.

Kevin Galvin, the group's president and a local hardware store owner, said the town must attract economic development but it shouldn't sacrifice the needs of area residents.

"Are we working hard at economic development or taking the easy way out?" Galvin said. "I think this is taking the easy way out."

By late Tuesday, residents who support the proposal had not yet spoken. Those residents also have formed a group and have said West Hartford Place will bolster the tax base and will not have a negative impact on the town.

The opposition group's traffic engineer, David Spear, said the proposal would cause cars to be backed up hundreds of feet, blocking area residents from getting in and out of their streets.

Spear said the developer's traffic consultant had understated the number of drivers who would be drawn to the complex.

During a recess, the developer's traffic engineer said he would examine the opposition traffic report.

"I'm sure we'll be able to refute this," said Henry Ditman, the developer's traffic engineer.

Galvin said the town council should consider getting an independent traffic report.